replying to myself here...

i could not find what was claimed, but i ran into something odd at pcmag.com:
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2352832,00.asp

they basically claim that archos told them the device is running a dual-os setup (probably a misunderstanding).

after a bit of digging i bumped into this:
http://www.techradar.com/news/phone-...-review-635738

so yes, it seems that archos may be pulling some kind of fast one...

quick guess is that they are running the media player bits under lock and key, and is reserving the display whenever its launched.

if thats true, i'm a really sad geek right now...